Sunday, October 18, 2009

Lena Chamamyan - Before Dinnerلينا شماميان - قبل العشاQabl El Isha

With who can I send my greetings to youWith my soul (literally "apple of the eye") or my heart?

Oh lighting send them my regards whenever you strike

When you were far away I used to hear your newsNow that you're close I can't stop looking at you

I won't die, no I won't die even if they bring the burial shroud I won'tI'll go down to the Straight Street market and have a coffin madeOne nail made of silver and gold and the other nail of rubyThe people will be amazed when they see us both in the coffin

You have a apricot tree in your house and we have a peach tree in oursThe apricot tree has leaned towards the peach tree (it makes a little more sense in Arabic, but to lean towards someone means to like them so it's a play on words)Quit coming and goingOh lord give us some rain, the Earth is longing (also a metaphor)

"lighting" means the lighting (lights, electric lights) in a house or building; if you mean the lightning from the storm it's spelled with an "n" after the "ght."

I like the metaphor about the peach and apricot trees; we have some similar metaphors in English; so no need for a comment. (One poem that mentions trees in neighboring yards is "Mending Wall," but there is one I cannot recall more like this one about two lovers.)

Egyptian Arabic Course

Hey guys, I've launched a new Egyptian Arabic online course in the blog format using exclusively songs to help learners of Arabic bridge the gap between their knowledge of Standard Arabic and Egyptian dialect. Check it out here.